South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense revealed on the 13th that it has deployed a cruise missile that can strike all regions of North Korea should any further provocations occur.
Spokesperson Kim Min Suk told a regular briefing, “We have independently developed and deployed a cruise missile with world-class accuracy and destructive power that can strike every region of North Korea when needed.”
The military also revealed that it plans to accelerate the development of a ballistic missile with an 800km range.
Kim also explained plans for an indigenous missile defense system, saying, “We simply cannot attack all North Korea’s missiles pre-emptively. Accordingly, we plan to develop a Korean-style missile defense system, KMAD, to intercept North Korean missiles before they reach the ground.”
Budgets for the plan, as well as for previously announced reconnaissance satellite development, have not been finalized.
Meanwhile, South Korea has concluded that the third North Korean nuclear test shows that Pyongyang has not yet been able to fully miniaturize its nuclear weapons, or make them light enough to fit on a missile.
Spokesperson Kim revealed, “We have our doubts as to whether North Korea has the technology to miniaturize or reduce the weight of its warheads. North Korea has declared that it is going to have various kinds of nuclear weapons, but this is seen to mean nuclear tests using various materials. In this case we have concluded that miniaturization and weight reduction will take a lot more time.”
Currently, the Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety is performing tests to figure out whether yesterday’s third nuclear test was conducted using a plutonium or enriched uranium device.
